Children in Need

I love picture books that portray children with lives very different than my own children's. These are children who struggle, generally with poverty, but still manage to find happiness with the little they have. Subtle books on this topic are difficult to find, particularly books that are not cloyingly sweet or irritatingly moralistic.

Two of my favorites are about children in Europe following World War II:

Boxes for Katje by Candace Fleming and A New Coat for Anna by Harriet Ziefert

Boxes for Katje shows how much good our children can do for those in need—and there are serious needs all over the world, and A New Coat for Anna teaches a great deal about the simplicity of life when times are hard, and how people can come together to make a beautiful thing, like a new red coat, happen.